Heroes Return (27 page)

“How did it come to be believed that Shintaro caused Creol’s defeat?”

“I really have no idea.” Because the residents of Middle Reach had said so. Because the Shield protecting Creol had felt my meddling and, once she had gotten over her hysterics at his death, had told everyone that we had killed him. At least, she spread that story until her bonded Source was killed by the residents of Middle Reach, and she had died with him.

Pedulla pursed his lips and tapped his paper. I waited in silence. After a long while, he asked, “What did you do while you were in Erstwhile?”

“Read a lot. Went to the theater and to music halls. There was a lot to do in Erstwhile.” Not as much as in High Scape, but certainly more than Flown Raven.

“How much time did you spend with the Empress?”

“Karish and I?”

“No. Just you.”

“Not much.” The Empress had had no interest in me.

“Yet you were in Erstwhile for months.”

“I wasn’t.” And damn, I hadn’t meant to say that. Though, really, it was something they could learn on their own.

And he confirmed that. “No, you weren’t. After a few weeks, you were sent to High Scape while Shintaro remained in Erstwhile for months after. Isn’t that true?”

“Aye.” Unlike all the questions Kaagen had been asking, this was a topic the Triple S had never investigated. I wasn’t sure what to say.

“Why do you think she did that? Have Shintaro stay there on his own?”

“I think he amused her.”

“Really? You think the Empress would have a Source removed from the roster merely for her entertainment?”

“That seemed the sort of thing a monarch might do.” I wasn’t being facetious. Royalty did as their whim moved them, regardless of the consequences, or so it seemed to me.

“You don’t speak of the royalty with respect,” said Pedulla. “That’s unusual.”

“Is it?”

“Very. What did the royal family do to make you speak of them so?”

“Nothing.” Besides pulling us this way and that, the bastards. “I was being inappropriate. I’m like that sometimes.”

“Not an admirable trait in a Shield,” he chided me.

Oh, go to hell. What did he know? Had he ever had to deal directly with royalty?

“What did Shintaro do for Her Majesty?”

“Sit with her. Talk with her. Did some errands, I believe.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all I know of.” And I didn’t think Taro would lie to me about it.

“For months?”

“That’s what he said.”

“Are you sure that’s all? He didn’t do anything else?”

“What do you suspect him of doing?” Surely they didn’t think he’d slept with her? That was vile.

“I will ask the questions, Shield Mallorough.”

Well, yes, sir. “And I’m answering. That’s all he did. That’s what he told me, and I believe him.”

“Why in the world would she disrupt his duties for such trivial activities?”

“She enjoyed his beauty.”

“Surely you’re not so naive as to believe that.”

I was, actually. Pedulla just didn’t understand. He clearly hadn’t seen the way people reacted to Taro.

“Was that why the Empress called the two of you to Erstwhile over a year later? To enjoy Shintaro’s beauty?”

The question was asked sarcastically. I answered it with sincerity. “It’s very possible.” There was no better reason for sending us on that ridiculous hunt of hers.

“Shield Mallorough, we know you didn’t spend the entirety of your absence from the roster in Erstwhile. Where did you go?”

Hell, these questions were annoying. I was getting a headache. “I’m not allowed to tell you that.”

“Who told you that?”

“The Empress. She made it clear that we would be hanged if we told anyone.”

Pedulla pulled in a breath of shock. “Are you sure that was what she meant?”

“She was very clear about it.”

Pedulla stood and walked around his chair, tapping the back of it with his fingers.

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, but how else was I going to get out of telling them where we’d been?

“Surely you knew the Empress wouldn’t have carried out that threat.”

“Of course she would have. She was the Empress.”

“And you’re a Shield. A member of the Triple S. Under our jurisdiction, not hers.”

And he called me naive. “Who was to stop her if she decided to carry out her threat?”

“We would.”

“How? She had the army.”

He chuckled. “So you believed . . . what? If you told us, she would send the army after you?”

It was possible to make anything sound ridiculous. Prat. “I mean she had the means to enforce her wishes.”

“Military might is not the only way to accomplish things.”

“What other way do you have in mind?”

He cleared his throat and avoided answering. “The Empress is dead,” he said.

“Her son is not.”

“You think the Emperor might carry out her wishes?”

“He might.” Actually, I didn’t think it would be the Emperor carrying out her orders. He probably still didn’t know what we’d been doing, or who Aryne really was. But if the Empress had picked people as unlikely as us to look for Aryne, she probably had other unlikely people doing other unlikely things.

Would someone given the job to kill us if we talked still find themselves obligated to carry out her orders after she was dead? I had no idea, and I wasn’t going to find out.

“So you are refusing to discuss your time off the r oster.”

“I am.”

“You were gone for over a year and you won’t explain yourself.”

“I can’t explain. I’ve told you why.”

“And you don’t feel worried about what form of punishment we might choose to deal out for this gross dereliction of duty?”

“You won’t kill us.” I hoped. Maybe I was being the naive one after all.

Pedulla drummed his fingers against the back of his chair. “I suspect you are relying on your Source’s value to shield you from any punishment at all.”

I honestly hadn’t thought of that.

Pedulla sat down. “Emperor Gifford has expressed notable interest in Source Karish.”

“I don’t know enough about the Emperor to know whether his interest in Karish is notable.”

“But you will acknowledge that the Emperor has shown interest in Shintaro.”

I guessed I had to. “Aye.”

“Offering to violate the law to enable Shintaro to get his title after abjuring it.”

How the hell did he know that? “Aye.”

“That’s extraordinary, don’t you think?”

“I do.”

“What in all the land did Shintaro do for the Emperor to gain such a favor?”

It was more a matter of what Taro’s mother had done, and I didn’t want to think about that. I couldn’t imagine how she had convinced Gifford to give Taro another shot at the title. “Nothing.”

“The Emperor violated the law out of the goodness of his heart? He, too, thought Shintaro was beautiful?”

Why couldn’t the Emperor think Taro was beautiful? Taro was beautiful. “I can’t speak to the Emperor’s motives, but I know Karish did nothing for him to earn that favor. Surely it is obvious that Karish turned down the opportunity to regain the title.”

“And perhaps he changed his mind. Perhaps living at his birthplace, even without the title, was something he wished for after all? So the Emperor obligingly transferred him?”

I wasn’t going to tell this stranger why Flown Raven was the last place Taro wanted to be. “Again, I can’t speak to the Emperor’s motives. I can only tell you that Karish did no favor, and the Emperor’s decision to transfer us surprised Karish as much as it did me.”

“And you never thought to question the Emperor’s right to transfer you?”

Should I say I knew the Emperor hadn’t had the right? I’d already accused the Triple S of not being able to protect us from the Empress. “I assumed he had your approval. You were transferring other Pairs from High Scape.”

“He did not get our approval. He did not even seek our counsel.”

I wasn’t at all surprised.

“Are you aware that the Emperor had transferred other Pairs, also without consulting us?”

I frowned. I didn’t know what to feel about that. It was annoying enough that the Emperor had transferred us. I had the feeling the Emperor was suspicious of us, or something. But to learn that he was manipulating other Pairs as well really bothered me. That was not within his authority. “I had no idea.”

“Tell me, why is it that our members feel the monarch can give the Triple S Pairs orders?”

“He’s the Emperor. He’s our ruler.”

“He’s not an authority over you.”

“Someone needs to tell him that. And it’s not us.”

“And by ‘us’ you mean—”

“Anyone who is not on the Triple S council.” To expect any regular member of the Triple S to say no to the Emperor was just stupid.

“Despite his interference with other Pairs, the Emperor has shown more direct interest in Source Karish than any other member. Tell me, was your transfer to Flown Raven the last contact you’ve had from the Emperor?”

“There are Imperial Guards here, looking for evidence that people are pretending to cast spells.”

That seemed to surprise him. “Really.” He tapped his quill against his paper. “What have they found?”

“To my knowledge, they’ve found nothing.”

That surprised him even more. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t understand.”

“The people of Flown Raven have a long tradition of casting spells.”

“You mean a long tradition of believing spells can work. Or trying to cast spells. Or pretending to cast spells.”

Pedulla hesitated a moment before saying, “Yes, of course.”

Gods. I knew what his original choice of words meant. The council of the Triple S knew spells actually existed. How could that be? How could they not educate us about the use of spells? Really, what was going on?

They knew people in Flown Raven cast spells. Would they tell the Guards?

“Shintaro swore fealty to the Emperor,” Pedulla said finally. “Why did he do that?”

“The Emperor told him to do so.”

“A member of the Triple S has no right to be swearing loyalty to the Emperor. The only institution to which any of you are loyal is the Triple S.”

I didn’t like being told to whom I may be loyal. “You would have expected him to refuse?”

“That is what he should have done.”

“He couldn’t refuse an order from the Emperor.”

“What would the Emperor have possibly done to him if he had?”

“Taro wasn’t about to find out and I thank Zaire for it.”

Pedulla looked at me narrowly. “That reminds me of another area of inquiry.”

Oh, wonderful. Really, I wondered what would happen if I just got up and left, just refused to answer any more questions.

I wished I were braver, sometimes.

“It has come to our attention that you and Source Karish have entered into an intimate relationship.”

Gods, didn’t people have anything better to talk about?

“Is this true?”

“That is none of your business.” I was not going to talk about that.

“The functioning of every Pair is of concern to us.”

“We function perfectly.”

“That’s an arrogant statement to make. It’s clear that Source Karish has been an unfortunate influence on you.”

What a catty thing to say. “Can you point to an example when we have performed inadequately?”

“When you left for over a year. In fact, when you left to look for Source Karish when he was taken by Source Creol without seeking permission. This is not behavior we admire.”

I shrugged. “There was nothing else to be done.”

“That was not for you to decide.”

“Shield Kaagen admitted it can take a while for the council to read its correspondence. It was very likely that had I asked for permission, I wouldn’t have received any kind of answer before Karish was killed. And then I would have been dead, too.”

“That is no reason to ignore responsibility and procedure.”

“Are you serious?”

Pedulla glared at me. “You don’t show proper respect for the council or for your role as a Shield.”

“I’m not going to let procedure or expectations stop me from doing what needs to be done.”

“So you’re saying if you had to do it all again, you’d do the same?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“Then there is nothing more to be said.” He rubbed his forehead. “Just go.”

Really? That was abrupt. But I wasn’t going to wait until he changed his mind. I stood, and I was a little wobbly, as I hadn’t moved in hours. I went straight to my suite, made use of the facilities, then summoned Lila for a meal. I still felt awkward having food brought to me, but it was well past the supper hour and I was both starving and thirsty.

And yet it was a good couple of hours before Taro made his way up, carrying with him a mug of water and a plate of cold meats and dried fruit. “Gods, that was hell,” he said in a gravelly voice.

“What did they ask you?”

“Everything,” he said, collapsing into the nearest chair. “My favorite color. How often I piss each day.”

“Seriously.”

“I am serious. That’s what it felt like.”

“Kaagen asked a lot about whether you had any unusual abilities.”

“Me, too.”

“I tried not to answer, but Kaagen thinks I’m a liar.”

Taro grinned. “He thinks I’m an idiot.” He popped a slice of apple into his mouth.

“Maybe that will make him think you’re incapable of special abilities.”

“That’s the plan.”

I let Taro eat and worried about Kaagen and Pedulla in silence.

I waited until we were both ready for bed and slipping between the sheets before I asked, “How worried should we be about all this?”